Sports Briefs

AGENCIES

Fri, Jul 29, 2005 - Page 22

■ SoccerBarton fined for cigar poke

Joey Barton has been fined more than £120,000 (US$145,000) by Manchester City after being sent home from his team's tour to Thailand for bad behavior. The club found him guilty of gross misconduct for his part in the incident in the team hotel on the recent Asia Trophy trip. Barton reacted badly to provocation from a group of Everton supporters and also lashed out at team-mate Richard Dunne after the defender tried to act as peacemaker. The 22-year-old midfielder, who was sent home from the Far East on Friday evening, was fined eight weeks' wages by the Premiership club. Barton's punishment includes two weeks' wages carried over from a suspended fine following a previous disciplinary hearing in December last year. Then, the player was threatened with the sack and fined £60,000 after poking former team-mate Jamie Tandy in the eye with a lit cigar during the club's Christmas party.

■ Soccer

World Cup brothel planned

Private investors are building Germany's biggest brothel in Berlin which will open in time for next year's soccer World Cup, a media report said yesterday. With room for 100 prostitutes, a sauna and table-dance bar, the three-story complex is a 25-minute walk from the Olympic Stadium which is hosting many World Cup soccer matches, said the Bild tabloid newspaper. Admission to the "Artemis" brothel will cost 100 euros (US$120) plus about 50 euros for half an hour with a prostitute, said the paper. Prostitution is legal in Germany as long it is not run by pimps. Registered prostitutes are subject to regular health checks by the authorities. The German cities of Cologne and Dortmund also plan soccer World Cup facilities for prostitutes. Both cities say they will set up temporary containers in which prostitutes can offer their services.

■ Golf

Thailand adds tournament

A new golf tournament in Thailand has been added to this year's Asian Tour schedule. The US$300,000 Double A International Open will be held from Nov. 17-20 at the Laem Chabang International Country Club near the resort city of Pattaya on Thailand's Eastern Seaboard, the Asian Tour said in a statement released yesterday. With its inclusion, Thailand will host four of the tour's tournaments this year. The Jack Nicklaus-designed Laem Chabang course has three nines, with the tournament to be played on the Mountain Nine and Lake Nine, making a par-72 , 6,275m course. Current Order of Merit leader Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand is expected to lead the field of players at the Double A International Open.

■ Soccer

FIFA fines Mexicans

FIFA's Disciplinary Committee fined the Mexican federation 750,000 Swiss francs (US$575,000) and reprimanded it on Wednesday for failing to follow proper anti-doping procedures regarding defenders Salvador Carmona and Aaron Galindo at this year's Confederations Cup in Germany. Mexican federation president Jose Alberto de la Torre also was fined SF20,000. Nicolas Zarur, the chairman of the Mexican federation's medical committee, was banned from any kind of football activity or any link with football for two years, while national team doctor Jose Luis Serrano received a SF5,000 fine and a reprimand.